…when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3:2

Recommended Reading: 1 John 3:2-3

In one of his homespun sermons, evangelist D. L. Moody said, “There was a man in London who had all the promises of God printed together in a little book, and some time after some one in the country sent up for a copy. He received the answer that all the promises of God were out of print.” Moody then held up his Bible and said, “Perhaps that man had never heard of this.” And he added, “I advise you to make all God’s promises good. God always keeps every promise He makes, and I defy any infidel to show any promise he has not kept.”

Apart from the living Word of Jesus, God’s greatest tangible Christmas present to us is His written Word, which is packed with promises about the future.

God has packed His Word with promises for today—and for tomorrow! Many of the greatest promises involve our Lord’s return and our eternal future in Him. Just as He came the first time, He will come again—in power, glory, and transforming grace. The future is bright because we know one day we will not only see Him, but we shall be like Him as well.

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

WITH THE POWER OF IMAGINATION, I ENVISION NEW POSSIBILITIES IN MY LIFE.

Charles Fillmore explained imagination as “the faculty of mind that images and forms; the power to shape form and thought.” Imagination is the power that pulls me through challenges in my life and the faculty that illumines the wisdom of God.

I strengthen my imagination through simple practices that allow my thoughts to expand. Consciously thinking outside the box, I practice doing things in new and different ways. Imaginative play can be cultivated by drawing with crayons, collecting images that inspire me, and writing in a journal. Such activities release limitations and invite inspiration. With the power of imagination, I envision new possibilities and manifest them in my life.

I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.—1 Corinthians 14:15

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

The newest edition of Guinness World Records describes a Chinese woman who set the record for the world’s longest eyelash (almost five inches); an 84-year-old great-grandfather from Los Angeles who is the world’s oldest male bodybuilder; and a woman in Houston with the longest fingernails currently for a woman (over 18 feet—she’s been growing them for more than twenty years).

What’s your world record? Everyone wants to be known for something. We crave a sense of significance. Something in us tells us our lives shouldn’t be in vain, yet our attempts to leave a legacy often fall short of God’s perfect plan.

The greatest legacy comes from humble service. When we serve Him faithfully, in places obscure or acclaimed, whether honored by men or reviled, He will use us in ways beyond reckoning. Even the smallest tasks, when pursued faithfully and prayerfully, will create a chain reaction that can only be calculated in heaven.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

We can be steadfast in our service, unmovable in suffering, abounding in ministry to others, because we know our labor is not in vain.
Warren W. Wiersbe

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
Revelation 22:6

Recommended Reading: Luke 21:29-36

Sir Isaac Newton, the father of physics, was an ardent student of Scripture who maintained a lifelong interest in prophecy. He felt too many people were setting dates for the end of the world, but he said the end would not come until “wicked nations” are in ruins and the Jews are back in their ancient homeland. Based on his study of the Bible, Newton foresaw the world in crisis and the reestablishment of the state of Israel. But even Newton couldn’t stop himself from setting a date. According to a recently discovered letter, he estimated the end of the world would occur in 2060.

It’s tempting to speculate when Christ will return, but we do not know the day or year. We simply know His coming is “shortly.” Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.” Revelation 1:1 says these things “must shortly take place.”

People tend to ignore the ever-present warnings about the Last Days, but for the believer they represent our ever-present hope.

He who thinks half-heartedly will not believe in God; but he who really thinks has to believe in God.
Isaac Newton

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

Myrtle Fillmore wrote, “You would not think of closing your eyes and walking around saying that you can’t see and don’t know where you are going. So why close your eye of omniscience by saying, ‘I do not know what to do?’ Repeatedly affirm that you do know!” With this sage advice, Myrtle reminds us it is never about asking some outside force for guidance; it is remembering and affirming our ever-present connection within divine mind.

Connecting within my sacred heart space, I allow a feeling of curiosity to guide me along as I find confidence for my next steps. I relax into the Silence where I have constant access to divine guidance. With steadfast faith, I follow where I am guided.

Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.—Psalm 143:10

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

Have you ever asked yourself why God created animals—so many of them with such variety?

Clearly God loves animals. He filled the Garden of Eden with them, preserved them during the Flood, and expressed concern about the cattle of Nineveh at the end of the book of Jonah. He even makes the surprising statement in Proverbs 12:10 that righteousness includes treating our animals well.

God undoubtedly created animals to be lessons for us. We learn diligence by watching ants do their work (Proverbs 6:6); we learn trust from the sparrows (Psalm 84:3); safety from the hen with her chicks (Matthew 23:37); confidence from the eagle (Isaiah 40:31); surefootedness from the deer (Habakkuk 3:19); discipleship from the sheep (John 10:4); gentleness from doves (Matthew 10:16); obedience from the horse (Psalm 32:9); wisdom from the badger (Proverbs 30:26); courage from the lion (Proverbs 30:29-30); and faith from the raven (Luke 12:24).

If you’re vacationing with your children this summer, talk about the animals. Sometimes their very presence is a sermon for our souls.

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, / All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.
Cecil Frances Alexander

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

Heard of the good Samaritan all my life. Everyone acts like they know where it came from. Then I read Luke 10:25-37 and got it from the source. How many people really know what the good Samaritan did? Great thread and hope to see more posts here.

Heard of the good Samaritan all my life. Everyone acts like they know where it came from. Then I read Luke 10:25-37 and got it from the source. How many people really know what the good Samaritan did? Great thread and hope to see more posts here.

Not only were the actions of the good Samaritan generous and compassionate to a degree far superior to the norm of that day, that would also be the case even by any reasonable standard expected of a devout Christian.

The Jews and Samaritans of the ancient world hated each other bitterly, and this had been the case from the days of Abraham. In spite of thousands of years of conflict between Israel and Samaria, he had left the innkeeper with enough money to see the injured man through his recovery period. But he also promised to pay the innkeeper further for any unanticipated shortfall, the next time he came through. And obviously the character of the Samaritan was good enough surety for the innkeeper. ABTW, the good Samaritan expected no repayment. And I'm sure as far as he knew he'd never see the stricken Jew again. Thus all things considered, in my mind the character of the good Samaritan likely exceeded the majority of the Jewish orthodoxy of the day.

Pretty striking when considering that the Jew is and were God's chosen people, this though the Bible clearly reveals that they are no better than anybody else. (All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.) But the point here is they very often failed in their dealings with others. God chose the Jew in spite of his many flaws, not because he was somehow more deserving than the other nations. And like the Jew, Christians fail in many ways today. Though, in our case as the Holy Spirit teaches us and reveals to us our many flaws, we have the opportunity to repent of same, and as the result are conformed to the image of Christ across the time span of our lives. So, the more we judge ourselves the better off we are. In any case the true goodness which any man may express, be that through giving to The Church, or charities, or any good work, they are but the reflection of the goodness of God Himself shinning through their lives.

In other words the larger picture here IMHO, is that it is very likely the good Samaritan was a believer in God and helped the stricken Jew because of his (the Samaritan's) right relationship with God. Ironically though the Jew is God's chosen people, he often lives a godless life style just like the other peoples of the world. But for salvation's sake, God has 'chosen,' all men first by offering His only Son as a sacrifice for them on the cross. And like the Jew, it is up to each individual as to whether he will choose God in return. God chose the Jew first, and He reached out to the peoples of the world in those days through Israel. But with Christ's substitutionary death on the cross, He chose all men first where it comes to the matter of salvation.

Romans 5:8 (KJV)
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:14-16 (KJV)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Jesus was lifted up on the cross) and thus all men are to look 'up' to Him in order to be saved.

Spirit that was a great article and I greatly appreciate your having posted the link. The dichotomy established by the enlightenment as it turns out, just happens to be a pet peeve of mine and a subject on which I have posted several times. As the writer lays out, there has been a separation of spiritual and temporal thought, (or earthly, for lack of a better term)

I am not one who believes that any one form of truth, can or should exist apart from the others. Especially in the case of the way spiritual truths impact social and scientific truths. No partition, no wall of separation should exist between the spiritual and the temporal, and that even if for the time being, the temporal does happen to be grounded in science. I say 'for the time being,' because IMHO the Lord will melt this universe at some point very soon with a fervent heat. But rejection of any truth perverts all truth in the mind of any who would be so foolhardy. My contention about all knowledge then, is as follows.

As is the case with everything that exists within the universe, that Thing which came first was God. If one does not accept that simple foundation, no matter what he builds, it is doomed to collapse as do all lies. This is what He says about understanding creation; John 8:12 (KJV)12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

It is impossible for one who denies Christ to understand nature fully. Why? Because man's mind brilliant though it may be, in the natural state is one of partial yet substantial darkness. To wit, in Romans 1:21 Paul declares, when men choose a lifestyle outside of Christ, 'their foolish hearts are darkened.' Now, I understand fully that the truth of salvation is utterly unattainable outside a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus, but I cannot see anyway to limit the light of knowledge (the illuminated mind or as the writer of your article referred to, the enlightenment) to salvation only. The Light, illuminates men's hearts to receive all truth. Conversely, the darkness causes man to reject the heart of all truth, God. It would be like trying to understand the solar system while denying the sun.

But in man's dogged rejection of that light, lies the reason why he pushes so hard for the exclusion of Christianity or God's tenets from the public forum, from the public square, from the law, from the halls of congress and from the courts of this land. But it is also why men came up with the Big Bang Theory, and the Theory of Evolution. But worse, America at some point in the relatively recent past, turned her back on her need of the Lord. So now in the case of all the contempt and hatred erupting in our land, we see that in doing so we have sown the wind, and now we are and WILL reap the whirlwind. Anyone whom would deny that America is out of control at the social level, and since we are a government of and by the people, therefore at the federal level too, is kidding himself.

But I digress just a bit. Science falls short because they dismiss creation in favor of an exploding rock. Which theory BTW is so fraught with unresolvable impasse that Big Bang theory adherents had to fall back to the absurd position of saying that an impossible number of universes have existed simultaneously in time and that in one of them the Big Bang worked.

I won't belabor the point further, but anytime man denies God, His creative hand, and His sovereignty over every last little smidgeon of DNA, the very science he depends on to carry the day will at some point betray him. And, man will be forced to either admit the truth or he will have to lie. And since men prefer to believe a lie: 2 Thessalonians 2:11 (KJV) 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

My position is that all truth is of God, and man when he denies God at any point, will suffer for having done so. I believe the day of Tribulation is very likely near upon us, and the suffering will be impossible to describe.

Hard to argue with the benefit you will gain from reading Luke. Did you know that many prominent Bible Scholars believe Luke was a gentile? If so, that would make him the only gentile contributor to the entire New Testament. And to fortify that claim, Paul took Luke with him on the mission field when he received the Macedonian Call. (That is the call to the gentile field) Acts 16:6-10

Luke had a more understandable and direct writing style than perhaps some others did. But no matter who the author, every word in the Bible is the Word of God, and therefore inerrant. And I know it's difficult, but I find the King James Version to be more enlightening than many of the other translations. But if you use something like say the NASB or NKJV, I have found that it is helpful or revealing, to reread your text in the KJV.